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Sunday, November 29, 2015

Layout design can be the most intoxicating aspect of this hobby. To be sure, once you start doing it, there's no end. I can testify about that as my sleep hours are quite shortened by storming ideas that make my night shorter. Every moment becomes a good time to doodle some track on a piece of paper.

But we all know it's fruitless without some other form of validation. Many layout designers stree scene composition to be a kew element to build credible railways. Often, a few will say you've got to try it for real in 3D and see how things work together.

When you are unsure about a project, you hardly have any incensitive to strat building a benchwork just to test a few ideas. Some people just try doing it with a computer 3D model. Even if I have the skill, I quickly learned that was time consuming and restrictive. You can't fudge with a 3D model, you have to know what you want to do. Hum... no grest if you want to try different landforms.

At this point, the last - and best - resort is to make a scale model of your scale model. I've learned this old trick from British modeller Gordon Gravett and made a good use of it. When I wanted to convince Jérôme we got to scrap Limoilou yard and build Villeneuve and Maizerst instead (Hedley-Junction layout), the scale model convinced him in a matter of seconds. I know it would have taken months and a pile of drawings otherwise.

Now, as you know, I'm actually in the process of rebuilding my home layout. I've often complained I couldn't do nothing with the space available, but I decided this time to build something for "real" and see if there are opportunities. To make it clear, I've been designing dozen of layout EACH year since 2009. Nothing came to fruitition except for a few that actually went as far as the benchwork stage.

Two major pitfalls plagued the project: finding a suitable prototype and getting the idea the train is truly going from point A to point B.

To be honest, the hardest problem to solve is finding a suitable prototype. Dozen of prototype caught my eyes and would be suitable, but very little stood the test of time. But it doesn't mean these ideas have some major trends.

The Temiscouata Railway located on Quebec, New Brunswick and Maine boundary.

Thus, I decided to mock up both prototype using a 18" x 10' shelf as starting point with the possibility to add a small extension if required.

Hereford Railway

I already introduced this excellent prototype recently. To make it workable, I'd need to protofreelance the line so it could be fitting my era of interest. No big deal. I'm not trying to model a specific location but to get the general feeling of the area between Cookshire and Beecher Falls: rolling country side.

The first option is straight forward and represent a generic city located along the line. Some hills in the background hide the track leading to the staging area. The town is rather simplistic, which is realistic. With this scenario, the town serves as the terminal for a local mixed train. To turn a steam locomotive, it is required to go back to staging where it is manually reverse with an amovible cassette. No great, but an easy way to save space and wiring issues. I feel the big issue with this layout is the pulpwood loading siding which is near the layout edge and leaves very little scenery opportunities.

This layout takes very little real estate and have a lot of operation opportunities (team track, pulpwood and feedmill).

The second option replace the pulpwood loading siding with a wye. Makes for the interesting possibility to reverse steam locomotives directly on the layout. To be noted, the scenery wraps the L-shaped benchwork which fools the eyes in believing the scene is larger. I like the idea to model a lot of fields along the line and a wye almost buried in vegetation isn't a bad idea to me. Unfortunately, this layout takes up a lot of space. I'm not sure the extension would fit well in my room. Also, I'm not very fond of obstructing the wye with cars. I'd be glad to get your feedback on that matter because maybe this version is actually over reaching.

Temiscouata Railway

This little independant railroad in Eastern Quebec and New Brunswick has always been a favorite of mine. Years ago, Trevor Marshall included it in his "achievable layout" database. It was only an idea but I always thought someone should build it some day. I've design many version of this layout in the recent years but I think I finally nailed it this morning. Cramping a small terminal in 10 feet including a locomotive facilities isn't a piece of cake. Here's the result:

Honestly, I'm more satisfied than I thought. First, this layout breathe. No cluttering, no overdone details and for once, gigantic and believable fields of grass (+ cows!). The track plan is so classic it fits any place in North America (and elsewhere in the world). The downside is that there's no specific industries at Connors, NB. Lots of wood products (pulpwood, lumber) were exported, but the industries weren't trackside. Only a long but busy team track was available.

On the other hand, the engine facility provides enough action because there was a coaling track to refuel engines. On my mock up, I didn't model the engine house, but if someone would extend the shelf up to 11 feet, that would be perfectly possible. Another option would be to compress the scene a little bit to save some space for it. I think modelling the complete enginehouse isn't required. One could only build a part of the building and bury it in overgrown vegetation to hide the trick.

A good point for this prototype is that information - including motive power, rolling stock, structures and timetable - is available online. Temiscouata ran 4-6-0 and 4-4-0 and some interesting combine car and caboose. Everything should be kitbashed or scratchbuilt, but that would provide countless hours of fun. The big question is that I'm not sure my heart's beating for Temiscouata, the project risk to be shelved one day or another. Also, Temiscouata as we loved it ceased to exist in 1948.

The last word

I certainly believe both designs are worthwhile. At some point, onw could expand them as fully-fledged layouts if that notion truly means something!

To be honest, I have a preference for Hereford Railway because it isn't set in a specific location and time, which is a good thing when I want to run my diesel or my steam locomotives. I know myself and can't hardly be dedicated absolutely to one project. Having a layout that has enough flexibility could be a good thing. The wye idea isn't half bad and I like how it breaks the perception of looking at a scenicked plank of wood.

On the other hand, I like the striking realism of Connors. That layout is as simple as one can wish yet still perfectly full of action to operate for a 45 minutes to 1 hour (similar to Hereford Railway). As one forum member on Big Blue Trains - a real railroader - once said:

"Having spent many months off and on, trying out different track
arrangements for my switching layout, I've come to the conclusion that
the simplest track plan is going to work the best and be the most
realistic. It's not how many tracks/industries/switches you have, but
what the industries are and how they are switched."

At this point, I'm curious to hear your comments and feedbacks about these options. Feel free to share your observations and impressions.

Sunday, November 22, 2015

November is well know to be the month of the deads. It explains in part why the blog wasn't updated since two club sessions were cancelled.

However, it doesn't mean nothing was achieved. In fact, we did operate, which is one of the reason we build model railroads. I promised scenery before Christmas but it won't happen. We are working in improving more mundane things like lighting. Many new fluorescents were added which made the room much more brigther! Maybe two much!

We are also tracking down every mechanical and electrical problem we face. It means the rolling stock is going to be improved steadily.

Anyway, we are actually working on completing once for all the small Erie's Harlem Station switching layout. We finally decided to wire the layout and operate it in DC. That choice was made for budget reasons.

Finally, having completed Hedley-Junction track laying means my brain is now ready for a new challenge. I decided to restart an old project dear to me: modelling a CPR dwindling branchline. I draws inspiration from my railfan trips in the Eastern Townships where canadian and american railways converged at the border. Since I no longer have room for a shelf layout in the house, I elected to build an island layout in the basement. And brace yourself, it is a dreaded continuous running 4' x 8' layout!

It may sounds totally unexpected from me, but my experiment with my short lived but eye opening Quebec South Shore Railway (QSSR) made me rethink about what I thought was granted.

First, with a relatively large layout where you have some mainline run, there's no need for continuous running to feel the train's going somewhere. A good example is Trevor Marshall's Port Rowan layout which is quite simplistic by normal standards. When you go smaller - modelling only one scene - there's no place for that extra lenght of track that make you believe the train is coming from somewhere. It really bothered me with QSSR and I quickly added an extra hollow core door. But it wasn't enough to make it believeable.

With the new layout, I only model one town, but it ain't a terminal but some "normal" location on a main line. The continuous running is a gimmick to stage the trains. It also makes it possible to run trains through the town that aren't related to it. The idea is to run every cars I have without having a specific industry in town to justify it. If I want to run an extra train pulling only reefers, it will be possible. The town will be just an excuse for model railfanning, which in itself is an activity I always enjoyed even when I was four years old.

The layout itself will be based on an old line called the Hereford Railway between Dudswell Junction (Quebec Central) and Beecher Falls (Maine Central). The line was operated by MEC until the late 20s when it was bought by CPR. CPR cut the connection with Beecher Falls quickly and only operated a mixed train down to Malvina. In my proto-freelanced world, CPR still owns the line but MEC keep running rights up to Dudswell thus continuing the direct link between Portland and Quebec City. Since Malvina is CPR defacto terminus, there's a small engine facilities there.

Hereford Railway map (www.estrieplus.com)

Industries in Malvina are mostly related to agriculture: a feed mill/oil dealer and a team track with a cattle pen. I thought about having a small spur going to a sawmill, but I decided against it. The sawmill on Hereford Railway was in Sawyerville and I'll keep it like that. Lumber was loaded on many sidings along the road and it could be the same in Malvina without the need to add a siding.

By the way, Hereford Railway was nicknamed as the Raspberry Branch. I'm wanting to paly along that concept as much as I can when doing scenery. This new layout will be a good occasion to experiment with new construction and scenery technics... and a good excused to do something with my steam era locomotives and rolling stock.

For people interested to learn a little bit more about the Hereford Railway and able to read French, EstriePlus.com ran an interesting series of articles in 2014-2015. For some reason, the author wrote "Main Central" instead of Maine Central. Don't let that bother you!

Sunday, November 1, 2015

After weighting and painting tmy old 60ft Intermountain flatcar, I decided to letter it to represent a Canadian National typical flatcar. The model isn't an exact close match but is fairly similar to many cars ordered by CN during the 70s.

The lettering is a mix of Microscale CN gondola decals and Black Cat CPR flatcar decals. The white dots are handpainted.

The model was weathered with india ink and alcohol and some acrylic paint washes. I didn't overdo the weathering since the car should be fairly in good shape during our operation era. Anyway, prototype photos don't show them as rust buckets.

Everything was sealed with a coat of dullcote and AIM weathering powder was applied to the wheel faces, truck and small other details prone to gather dirt.

With this car done, I can confidently say our layout now have every car required. It doesn't mean I won't build other cars, but at this point, it is no more a priority. Cars in operation will be improved and weathered according to my fancy.

About The Club

Our layout is about capturing small-time branchline railroading in Eastern Canada during the early 80s. Built by three modellers, this HO layout is mainly dedicated to the Old Capital former CN Murray Bay Subdivision linking together Quebec City, Montmorency & Charlevoix counties. We also share an interest in its former constituant railways including Canadian National Railway (CNR) and Quebec Railway Light & Power Co. (QRL&PCo).

The original founding crew, still in active service since February 2007, is made of Louis-Marie Huot (Provincial Government Official), Matthieu Lachance (Architect, O.A.Q.) and Jérôme Langlois-Lavoie (real-life Locomotive Engineer). Many fellow "brakemen" assist the group on an irregular basis.

A special thanks goes to the late Mr. Jean-Pierre Veilleux (†2016) who was a precious source of historic facts and a dedicated railfan since the early 50s onward.